Raphaelson & Levine Has Helped Victims Recover More Than $500 Million In Verdicts And Settlements

When an individual is injured on the grounds of an apartment building, shopping mall, grocery store, hotel, nightclub or another premise in New York, they have the legal right to pursue compensation through a premise liability settlement or verdict.

Raphaelson and Levine Law Firm has secured top premise liability settlements for individuals injured due to negligent security, breached a duty of care and situations in which a property owner failed to responsibly ensure the safety of their property.

If you’ve been injured contact complete the free lawyer consultation form or call 212-268-3222 to discuss your legal options and next steps with an attorney at our firm.

Below are brief summaries of premises liability settlements and verdicts we have secured for past clients.

$325K Uneven Sidewalk Pre-Trial Settlement

A young boy was injured when he fell over a mis-leveled sidewalk in New York City while walking back from school.

New York City requires the home or property owner next to the sidewalk to keep it in good repair including repairing and addressing any tripping hazards – found in Section 7-210 of the NYC Administrative Code.

This law provides a powerful remedy to anyone injured due to a dangerous sidewalk. Our firm has handled hundreds if not thousands of cases arising out of falls on dangerous and defective sidewalks.

Here our client tripped and fell and broke his leg. The case was complicated because there were no witnesses nor anything tying him to the incident location. While he was taken by EMS to the hospital, he had attempted to get up and was not at the location when found by the ambulance. The report listed a different incident location and nothing in the hospital records tied his fall to a mis-leveled or uneven sidewalk.

Unfettered, we aggressively pursued the matter. Partner Andrew Levine successfully argued that the fall occurred where our client claimed, that the sidewalk was dangerous and violated the law, and the injuries were serious and would result in permanent pain and limitations. Andrew Levine obtained a pre-trial settlement of $325,000.00.

Dog Bite Injury Settlement

Our client, a toddler, was walking with her parents in their Queens neighborhood when she was bitten by an unleashed dog in the face, resulting in severe facial damage.

While on a walk the family came across a dog without a leash. The parents asked if the dog was friendly and were told yes and encouraged to pet the dog.

While gently petting the dog he snapped, biting our client in the face. Unbeknownst to the parents, this dog had done nearly the identical thing to a different young child approximately a year before. The young child required plastic surgery to address their wounds. Fortunately, she is on the road to recovery and remains undisputedly adorable.

Our firm immediately filed a lawsuit and obtained records confirming the dog’s prior attack. This information is critical in a dog bite case in New York as the plaintiff is required to demonstrate prior vicious propensities of the dog to be entitled to compensation.

This is often referred to by lay people as the “free bite rule.” Early and thorough investigation is critical to success in these cases. We also presented the medical evidence and photographic evidence in compelling fashion, demonstrating the extent of our precious client’s injuries. Within two months of being retained and a month of filing the lawsuit, partner Andrew Levine obtained the entire insurance policy for the defendants in addition to paying for the victim’s medical expenses.

Six-Figure Gun Injury Settlement

When a young boy was severely injured after being shot by a pellet gun, his family turned to Raphaelson & Levine for help. The gun, a high powered pellet gun styled to look like a AR 15 was fired struck our client directly in the head, which resulted in a fractured skull.

The pellet lodged in his shattered skull necessitated surgery to remove the pellet and place a plate at the fracture site to facilitate healing.

Our firm brought a claim versus both the homeowner and the person who fired the shot. The claim against the homeowner was for failure to supervise and for recklessly permitting unsupervised children to play with high powered firearms. The claim versus the individual was for negligence for failing to be aware of his surroundings before recklessly firing the weapon.

Our firm successfully established fault on each party and secured confidential six-figure settlements from the insurance carriers for both the homeowner and individual who fired the weapon.

Justice was served and hopefully served as a wake-up call that will prevent a future tragedy.

$499K Amusement Park Injury Settlement

When a day at the amusement park turned into a nightmare, the victim of a serious injury turned to our firm for help. While coming down a water slide at a New York amusement park, our client was seriously injured, suffering a badly fractured ankle which required extensive surgery.

The law in New York, known as Primary Assumption of the Risk, generally serves as a bar to lawsuits or claims for injuries arising out of sporting or recreational activities. Our firm successfully argued that the park operator unreasonably increased the risks associated with the water slide and thus did not get the benefit of the Primary Assumption of the Risk doctrine.

After years of litigation, partner Andrew Levine successfully obtained a pre-trial settlement of $499,000.00. Throughout the matter, litigation was handled by associate Jared Glugeth and partners Andrew Levine and Howard Raphaelson.

$1M Playground Injury Settlement

When a six-year-old suffered a playground injury due to negligent camp supervision, their family retained our firm to hold them responsible for their inactions.

During the course of the day, the young child was playing with two other children on a tire swing. The victim was pushing the swing for their friends when the tire swing swung backward, aggressively colliding with their body. The collision knocked our client against a metal pole, resulting in leg injuries which included a fractured femur.

The victim was transported to Westchester Medical Center, in Valhalla. Initially placed in traction, her injury was ultimately addressed via closed reduction: the application of a cast. Her hospitalization spanned 19 days.

The victim’s father alleged that the camp’s staff was negligent in its supervision of his daughter and retained our firm to retained to bring a lawsuit against the popular summer camp after they failed to supervise the children and a chaotic environment ensued.

The defense counsel contended that the camps and school are not charged with ensuring children’s safety at every possible moment. They also contended that the victim was not involved in an inherently dangerous activity and that she assumed the risk of any injury that may have occurred.

Our firm argued the playground injury would have been entirely avoidable even with the most minimal supervision, securing a structured playground injury lawsuit settlement which will provide our client in excess of $1,000,000 over their lifetime.

$187K Negligent Nightclub Security

A 28-year-old man was at a night club when a violent fight broke out. Our client was caught up in the melee and was ultimately slashed in his face by a club bouncer wielding a sharp metal object. The attack left our client with a permanent scar to his face. Andrew Levine and Howard Raphaelson were able to prove that the Night Club had a prior history of violence and failed to properly investigate the people they hired as bouncers. The matter was resolved prior to jury selection for $187,500, which represented nearly the entire available insurance.

$150K Fall At Coffee Store

Our personal injury lawyers successfully represented a woman who fell at a popular coffee store in Manhattan. Our client forgot there was a step outside the bathroom door and fell to the ground injuring her shoulder. She suffered a fracture in her arm, which did not require surgery and was treated conservatively. The step was not defective and in good condition at the time of the accident. Andrew Levine successfully argued that the presence of the step near a bathroom exit constituted a dangerous condition and violated the New York City Building Code. After extensive litigation, the matter was settled for $150,000.

$517K Supermarket Delivery Man Spinal Injury

A delivery man for Poland Spring fell down a staircase behind an A&P supermarket, aggravating a previous spinal injury. The staircase was behind the building and was used solely to deliver goods to the storage area for the supermarket. The staircase had accumulated dirt and debris and it had a sign putting the supermarket workers on notice of a dangerous condition. The sign said, “Safety is not an accident. Clean it up, Wipe it up.” Unfortunately, the sign was not located in an apparent place and although workers in the supermarket were aware of the dangerous condition, delivery people were not notified of the condition. The plaintiff had to be absent from work for a significant period of time and was required to undergo surgery to his lumbar. The plaintiff did have a previous injury to his spine; however, it was determined that this accident exacerbated this condition. New York Law provides compensation to accident victims for exacerbation, which our New York spinal injury lawyers were able to recover for the delivery man.

$650K Pet Store Trip-and-Fall

A 55-year-old woman was shopping at a well known Pet Store in Manhattan. She tripped and fell over a portion of a shelf that was protruding into the shopping aisle. She suffered a shoulder fracture, which required surgical intervention. Andrew Levine and Howard Raphaelson were able to obtain $650,000 at a mediation.

$130K Roadway Plate Trip And Fall

On the eve of jury selection we reached a favorable result and obtained a settlement of 130,000 Roadway plate on sidewalk a tripping hazard Our client was visiting time square when she tripped and fell over a roadway plate placed by a sub-contractor of Con Edison. The plate was inexplicably placed on the sidewalk. The area immediately surrounding the plate was not level or flush and created a tripping hazard. She sustained a non-displaced fractured elbow.

$200K Parking Lot Slip & Fall Injury

At a mediation at NAM NYC we obtained a recovery of 200,000 for a New York woman who slipped and fell, injuring her ankle, in a parking lot while visiting her parents. Our client was visiting family at a townhouse community on the South shore of Long Island New York in Nassau County. Our firm established that the parking lot was improperly paved and resulted in uneven ins which permitted puddles to form and ultimately freeze when the temperature dropped. We retained weather and engineering experts to establish same.

Negligent Landlord Smoke Inhalation Injury

We are proud to announce that last week, justice was delivered for a young Manhattan boy and his parents after they suffered due to their landlord’s negligence during an apartment fire in the Spring of 2015. Today, we are happy to disclose that both parents and the young child have made a full recovery from this incident!

In 2015, the family sustained smoke inhalation injuries after a fire, that began on the first floor, began spreading into their residence. Unfortunately, the landlord had previously boarded up the fire escape, making it extremely difficult to exit the building and thereby exposing the family and their young child to the black smoke.

According to the New York State Department of Health, inhaling smoke from a fire can present both immediate (acute) and chronic health effects, including headaches, reduced alertness, lung cancer and/or cardiovascular disease. In children, smoke inhalation increases their risk of adverse effects.

After a legal battle lasting almost two years, an infant’s “compromise order” was recently entered into at the Supreme Court in Manhattan signifying the conclusion of the case. We are proud to make this announcement on behalf of our clients, and we are elated to announce that the family is now fully healthy.

This matter was handled by Steven Gershowitz, Esq., a Senior Associate at Raphaelson and Levine. At Raphaelson & Levine Law Firm, we fight and will continue to fight for each and every person we represent, no matter their age, income or status. To view more results, visit our recent verdicts and settlements.

Six-Figure Costco Slip & Fall Injury

Our firm represented a woman whose Sunday shopping turned into a nightmare at a Long Island Costco. Our client entered an aisle and slipped on a piece of cardboard ironically known as a ‘slip sheet.’ It was our contention that the aisle should have been closed, warnings displayed, verbal warnings given by nearby store employees, and the slip sheet removed before customers entered the store or aisle. Unfortunately, the ‘slip’ resulted in severe injuries including a badly broken wrist and thumb injury which required extensive surgery. Our firm aggressively litigated this matter in Suffolk County Supreme Court. On the eve of jury selection, we were able to successfully reach a favorable settlement for our client recovering multiple six figures of compensation.

$8.5M Building Collapse Settlement

A landmark settlement for a 10-year-old boy whose leg was amputated after being buried under a pile of concrete after the wall of a building on the Grand Concourse collapsed on him. The building’s owner received a violation for failure to maintain the exterior building wall, and the family hired our firm to receive justice. While headed to their dad’s apartment, looking forward to a sunny day at a local city pool our client and his brother were critically injured when a cascade of bricks and cinder block fell from the Bronx storefront. The building collapse resulted in a severe injury including a severed leg six inches above the ankle. An attempt to save the child limp was attempted by the medical staff at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, however, the severity of the injury required the young boy’s leg to be amputated. Our firm litigated a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the child’s family. The amount of compensation awarded was consistent with the highest awards ever upheld by the appellate courts in the State of New York for an injury similar to this little boy’s injury.

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